Heating system for railway cars



Jan; 11, 1944.

KE. zElDLER 25339,()40

HEATING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 3j 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l Y HMO/wey;

Jan. 1l 1944. K. E. zElDLr-:R

HEATING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 5, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 aff K11/'Z' EZqiler,

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Jan'. 11, 1944. K.v E. ZEIDLER 2,339,040

HEATING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY cARs Filed April 5, 1942 l 4 Sheets-Sheelt 3 F hwg/22m KurEZsfakf n lO/m Jan. 11, 1944. K ZEIDLER 4 y 2,339,040

HEATING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CAR.f

Filed April 5, 1942 y41snee14u-s114144 4 Patented Jan. 11, 1944 nEATiNo SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY CARS Kurt E. Zeidler, Chicago, Ill., assigner to. Standardl Railway Devices Company, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Delaware Application April 3, 1942, Serial No. 437,505

4, Claims.

The invention relates toA so-called railway refrigerator cars and particularly to means for heating such cars. The railroads and ear operating companies have in service a large number of such so-called refrigerator cars, the essential feature of which is an insulated body and which usually includes means to refrigerate the interior of the car and means to supply air from the outside to the interior of the car.

The conventional refrigerator car, which is commonly called an end bunker car, has an ice bunker at each end of the car and the lading comu partment between the ice bunkers. When ice is placed in the bunkers, the cold air circulates from the ice bunkers under the foraminous rack which supports the lading and then filters upwardly through the lading compartment, thereby refrigerating the lading. In cold weather, a heater is placed in one or both bunkers and the air warmed by the heater circulates'over the top of the lading and filters downwardly therethrough to heat such lading.

- An overhead bunker type of refrigerator car has been developed by my assignee, a typical design of which is shown in Bonsall Patent 2,136,999 of November 15, 1938. In this car the end bunkers have been eliminated and consequently the conventional location for the heaters has also been eliminated. There has been developed an underslung heater suspended below the floor of the car and arranged to heat the car by means of uid circulating in pipes under the floor rack of the car, the fluid being heated as it ows through a coil disposed within the underslung heater. Such a device has given satisfactory service but is objectionable in many cases because of its weight and cost and furthermore because it is a permanent installation and must be carried with the car during warm as well as cold weather.

An object of my invention is to provide a heating system the major parts of which are easily removable and replaceable so that the system may be installed in cars at the approach of cold weather and removed atthe end of the cold season, as will be hereinafter' described in detail. The removal of the heating system is a relatively simple operation and the car with the heating system removed refrigerates with unimpaired efficiency.

Another object is to provide a heating system which is equally well adaptable to both the above described conventional end bunker car and to the recently developed overhead bunker car.

Another objectisto provide a heating system Ilo which utilizes the conventional portable charcoal heater. Such heaters, which are made byfseveral heater manufacturers, are reasonably well standardized as to dimensions, operation and fuel capacity and thel railroads own many thousands of lsuch heaters which they have distributed along their lines at points where refrigerator cair` trains are serviced. At thesepoints, the heaters areeitner removed, installed, lighted or extinguished as conditions dictate. While I have shown my invention adapted to use a conventional portable charcoal heater, it is to be understood that it is not limited to the use of such a heater but may be easily adapted to use practically any type of heater desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a system of hot air distributing ducts under the floor rack'to conduct air from the heater to all parts of the car.

Another object, particularly adaptable to the above mentioned overhead bunker cars which embody side wall ues, is to provide for a ow oi warm air upwardly through one or more of such side wall flues so that the warm air descends through the lading from the upper part of the car and the ascending warm air further insulates the walls.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following detailed description by referring to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

l is a transverse Sectio-n of an overhead bunker refrigerator car embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on line .1i-.2 of

The general parts of the refrigerator car shown are insulated roof A; side walls B; end wall C; door D; refrigerant containers E; hatches F for loading refrigerant into the containers E; side wall iiues G; forarninous fio-or rack I-l and space J between the rack H and the door D. The spaced apart refrigerant containers are positioned immediately below the roof A and respectively adjacent the side walls B. A drip pan K 1s provided below each container E and a partition L is disposed in an upstanding position at the edge of each drip pan K, the drip pans K andthe partitions L cooperating with the roof A and the upper parts of the side walls B to form enclosures M around the containers E. Air inlet openings N to the enclosures M are provided by spacing the partitions L from the roof A and air discharge openings P lead from the enclosures M to the fiues G at a lower elevation than the air inlet openings N. The refrigerant containers E are preferably spaced apart longitudinally of the car to provide air passages between the ends of the containers. rlhe partitions L are spaced apart to form a duct Q which communicates between the lading compartment R and openings N.

Air circulation during refrigeration is as follows: Air in the lading compartment R is warmed by contact with the lading and rises through the duct Q to enter the enclosing structures M through the air inlet openings N. The air is then cooled by contact with the cold refrigerant containers E and falls by reason of its lower temperature and therefore greater density through the discharge openings P and ues G to the space J whence it rises through the rack H to the lading compartment R. The above described cycle is thereafter continuously repeated.

In the modication of my invention sho-wn in Figures 1 to 3, a downwardly diverging opening 2 is provided in the floor D and surrounded by a frame 3. An insulated receptacle which in the form shown is a box 5 having an open top is removably supported below the oor D with the upper edges of its outer walls i tting within the opening Z and engaging the frame 3. The box 5 is preferably supported by straps removably secured to the cross members 8 of the underframe. An insulated door 9 for closing the opening 2 when the box d is removed is hinged (l i) below the door D and mounted upon a horizontally slotted hinge butt l2. The door S may be conned between the bo-X 5 and certain of the straps d when not in use, as shown in Figure 2.

The iloor rack H is comprised of longitudinally extending slats i5 supported by transversely eX- tending stringers l5. A baiile I3, preferably formed of wood or other insulating material and faced with metal i3 on its lower side, extends between certain stringere 2l which are disposed above the floor opening 2, thereby forming a passage 'Z2 between the baiile i3 and the floor D, which passage 22 entends substantially between opposite side Walls B of the Car. When the car is used as a refrigerator, the cold air descending through the side flues G may flow over the top of the battle E8 and thence upwardly through the rack H into contact with the lading. The box 5 is provided with insulated false walls 24 aligned with and engaging the floor rack stringers 2l. The false walls 2d are spaced from the bottom 25 of the box d and are also spaced from adjacent outer walls Ll ol? the box to form air ilues 2l. A door 2t is preferably provided in the box 5 in the front side or side parallel with a car sidewall B.

The type of heater disclosed is a well known type of cylindrical shape with the outer shell having horizontal corrugations. The heater 32 is positioned within the boX 5 and confined in a compartment formed by the false walls 24, the rear wall 33 and the door 23 and held preferably in spaced relation to such walls and door by spacers 3E. The heater can be lighted and extinguished by opening the door 28 and may be easily remo-ved through the doorway for purposes of refueling.

The heater warms the air adjacent thereto and causes such air to rise; this rising warm air induces a downward ow of air through the flues 21 between the walls 4 and false walls 24 of the box 5, which latter air is drawn from the space J under the lioor rack l-I. Notches 36 are preferably provided in the lower edges of the floor rack stringers I6 to facilitate iiow of air toward the box 5. The air warmed by the heater 32 iiows upwardly by natural convection and is directed by the baiile I8 in opposite directions through the passage 22 toward the side walls B of the car. The maior part of such warmed air preferably flows upwardly through the side wall flues G to the refrigerant enclosures M and then downwardly through the duct Q to the lading compartment R. The air then lters downwardly through the lading compartment R and gives up heat to the lading. Such a cycle of air circulation is maintained by natural convection inasmuch as the air injected into the side wall ues G is warmer than the air in the lading compart- .ment R. The warm air in the side wall flues G serves the further function of increasing the insulation of the walls B and preventing inltration of cold air therethrough.

In the modification shown in Figures 4 and 5, the box 5 and the heater 32 are substantially the same as shown in Figures 1 to 3. The floor rack IFI is comprised of the usual longitudinal slats 40 and transverse stringers 4| preferably hinged (d2) to the car side walls B in the conventional manner. The left part of the rack as shown in Figure 4 includes a longitudinally extending duct d adjacent the center of the car which duct is formed of light gauge metallic sheet reinforced by straps iii and rigidly attached to the floor rack H. The baille 46 extends between the Stringers 4l which are disposed above the floor opening 2 to form a passage 49 between the baffle 46 and the floor D for the purpose of conducting warm air from the box 5 to the longitudinal duct 43.

The duct 43 is provided with a plurality of openings 5@ distributed from end to end of the car, preferably larger openings being provided remote from the heater 52 to equalize distribution of air into the space J below the floor rack H. The warm air flowing from the duct i3 through the openings El@ into the space J iilters upwardly through the lading compartment R and warms the lading. After having been cooled by contact with the lading, the air then settles either through the lading compartment R or through the side wall flues G to the space J under the floor rack H and then is drawn downwardly through the flues El in the box 5 to displace the air warmed by the heater 32 and directed into the longitudinally extending duct lili.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preierred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A heating structure for use in a refrigerator car having a lading compartment, a foraminous rack spaced from the floor thereof, to provide a space therebetween, ues associated with opposite side walls of said car, communicating at their lower ends with said space and at their upper ends with said lading compartment; said heating structure comprising a heater suspended below said floor, a duct extending transversely of said car below said rack and communicating with said nues, whereby air heated by said heater is delivered to said duct and thereby to the bottom of said lues on opposite sides of said lading compartment and from the upper end of said lues to the upper part of said lading compartment and downwardly therethrough to said space and nally to said heater.

2. A heating structure for use in a refrigerator car having a lading compartment, a foraminous rack spaced from the floor thereof to provide a space therebetween, nues associated with opposite side walls of said car communicating at their lower ends with said space and at their upper ends with said lading compartment, closed chambers adjacent said roof, each having an air outlet communicating with the adjacent side wall iiue and an air inlet communicating with the lading compartment at a higher elevation than said outlet for convective air circulation therethrough, said air inlet being adjacent the longitudinal center of the car; said heating structure comprising a heater suspended below the oor, a duct extending transversely of said car below said rack and communicating with said ues, whereby air heated by said heater is delivered to said duct and thereby to the bottom of said ues on opposite sides of said lading compartment and from the upper end of said flues to the upper part of said lading compartment and therethrough to said space and nally to said heater.

3. A structure as set forth in claim 1 including a manifold adjacent each side wall of the car communicating with said duct and a plurality of ilues in said side wall, whereby the heated air may be distributed by said flues throughout the length of the lading compartment.

4. A structure as set forth in claim 2 including a manifold adjacent each side wall of the car communicating with said duct and a plurality of iiues in said side wall, whereby the heated air may be distributed by said fiues and chambers to the lading compartment adjacent the longitudinal center thereof throughout the length of said lading compartment.

KURT E. ZEIDLER. 

